New Recreational Marijuana Reform Bill Takes Effect in Washington

Washington state — often criticized for having the weakest of the legalized states’ recreational marijuana laws — is making major adjustments to the state’s retail cannabis industry.

Governor Jay Inslee signed House Bill 2136 this week, which eliminates the current three-tier tax structure from I-502 and replaces it with a flat 37 percent excise tax made at the point of sale.

Additionally, the new law places limitations on who gets access to the state’s marijuana tax revenue: specifically, localities that have chosen not to allow marijuana businesses will not be eligible for any tax dollars from the industry. The bill also relaxes certain zoning issues regarding where retail stores and grow operations are allowed to operate.

Washington voters legalized recreational cannabis in 2012 via Initiative 502, and the first cannabis retailers opened almost exactly one year ago.

Graham Abbott

Based in Oakland, California, Graham is Ganjapreneur's Chief Editor. He has been writing about the legalization landscape since 2012 and has been contributing to Ganjapreneur since our official launch in 2014.

We're proud to support:

DISCLAIMER: Ganjapreneur.com is intended as an educational resource for law-abiding professionals and those who are curious about entrepreneurial and/or investment opportunities in emerging markets. We do not offer investment advice, and we encourage all visitors and readers to do their own due dilligence before investing in any of the companies or markets that we write about. Be advised that possessing, using, distributing and selling cannabis are all federal crimes in the United States of America and the articles, pages, links, and other types of information on this site are not intended to assist you in violating federal law. Ganjapreneur.com and all associated entities and individuals are not responsible for third party content and/or links published on this website.